RJHS East falls short against Conway WhiteCourier sports staff Russellville Junior High School's East girls gave Conway White a pair of tough battles before dropping both volleyball matches Monday afternoon at the RJHS gym. In the ninth-grade match, Russellville East forced Conway White into going the distance before the Lady Wampus Kittens came away with a 25-18, 19-25, 15-13 victory. Cody Brookhouser had six points in the first game for the Lady Whirlwinds, including an ace, while K...

Mistakes prove costly against RJHS football teamsBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com Jody Doyle picked off a Blake Humphrey pass in the third quarter and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown to seal an 18-12 victory for the Benton Junior High Warriors over the Russellville West Whirlwinds Thursday night at Cyclone Stadium. Doyle's interception return broke a 12-12 tie on the first series of the second half, giving the West squad its second straight tough home defeat. "It's the same thing it...

RJHS football teams want better results tonightBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com Both Russellville Junior High football teams are hoping to come away with better results when the Whirlwind squads resume play tonight. Last week, the West Whirlwinds battled Conway Blue to a 0-0 tie, despite moving the ball down the field well, in ninth-grade action. The defense showed good effort in the tie, and the offense had some success as it was able to get inside the Conway 20 on every possession. L...

RJHS West volleyball teams lose at ConwayCourier sports staff Russellville Junior High West's eighth- and ninth-grade volleyball teams lost matches against Conway White on the road in Conway on Wednesday. The eighth-grade West Lady Whirlwinds lost 16-25, 13-25. During the first game, Bailey Carroll had six service points, while Ashley Prochazka recorded three service points, including an ace. Kendall Werner had three service points, including an ace, during the second game of the mat...

RJHS East Lady Whirlwinds reach semifinals of volleyball tournamentBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com The Russellville Junior High East Lady Whirlwinds came up a bit short in the semifinals of the Lady Whirlwind Invitational Saturday at the RJHS gym, losing to Mount St. Mary's 19-25, 25-20, 7-15. "It was disappointing, because we really saw ourselves in the finals," East coach Cindy Williams said. Cody Brookhouser led the East Lady Winds in the match with seven points and two assists. Holly Russell chipped ...

Junior Red Devils calm East WhirlwindsBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com The Atkins Red Devils opened their season in style as Terrance Bobo scored four touchdowns, three of them rushing, and racked up 154 yards in the Red Devils' 30-14 win over the Russellville Junior High School's East squad Thursday night at Cyclone Stadium. "It feels good to win," Atkins head coach Chris Taylor said. "It always feels real good to get that first win." Russellville East ended the game with fou...

RJHS football teams look to improve tonightBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com The Russellville Junior High Whirlwinds split a pair of games in last week's action, and both squads look for improvement in tonight's contests. The East ninth-grade squad was victorious in its first game with an 18-8 win over Van Buren Butterfield behind a strong rushing attack and a fortunate turnover that Wes Brown turned into a score. The East Whirlwinds (1-0) already have last season's win total matche...

RJHS East splits volleyball matchesCourier sports staff The Russellville East Lady Whirlwinds came up with a victory over Conway Blue, 25-16, 19-25, 15-11, in ninth-grade action. Cody Brookhouser led the Lady Whirlwinds in the first game with six points, three on aces, and Autumn Stewart added five. Kelsey Williams chipped in with three aces. Williams paced Russellville East (3-1) in the third and deciding game with five points, including two for aces. Stewart led the defensive...

Russellville Junior High East Whirlwinds sweep; West splits in volleyball matchesCourier sports staff Russellville Junior High School's volleyball teams came away with three wins out of four matches against a pair of Van Buren squads during Tuesday's action at the RJHS gym. Russellville East pulled off a sweep in its two matches, starting with a 25-12, 25-12 victory over Van Buren Butterfield. The Lady Whirlwinds were even more dominant in their second match, taking a 25-14, 25-4 victory over Van Buren Coleman. In the matc...

RJHS East Whirlwinds lose volleyball matches on roadCourier sports staff GREENBRIER - The Russellville Junior High East Lady Whirlwinds eighth-grade volleyball team dropped a pair of games, 11-25, 16-25, in their first match Wednesday at Greenbrier. Allison Sotomayer led the East with three points in the first game. The ninth-grade girls also came up a bit short with Greenbrier taking both games, 21-25, 17-25. Kelsey Coulter led the way with three points and Cody Bookhouser and Holly Russell ea...

RJHS West Whirlwinds drop season openerBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com Miles Morrison returned an interception 90 yards to spoil a Russellville West comeback attempt as Van Buren Coleman outlasted the Whirlwinds, 27-20, in non-conference action Tuesday night at Cyclone Stadium. "This is the toughest defeat I've ever had," West head coach Joey Jones said. "It's hard to swallow." The Whirlwinds had the ball at midfield with two minutes to go, trailing 21-20. The West offense adv...

RJHS East Whirlwinds beat Van Buren on road 18-8By George "Clay" Mitchell Van Buren Press Argus-Courier VAN BUREN - Russellville Junior High's East football squad already matched its win total from last season as the Whirlwinds took advantage of three turnovers and took an 18-6 victory over Van Buren Butterfield in Tuesday's season opener at Blakemore Field. Wes Brown came up with the biggest turnover of the night - a fumble that popped into his hands - and returned it 70 yards for a touchd...

Dover junior Pirates hold off Hector for 21-12 win to open football seasonCourier sports staff HECTOR - Dover jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and overcame Tyler Robertson's offensive onslaught as the Pirates claimed a 21-12 victory over Hector in the season opener for both junior high football teams Tuesday night. Aaron Davis scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, and Caleb McGee's PAT kick gave Dover a 7-0 cushion. The Pirates doubled that margin later in the period when Ryan Teer scored from 8 yards out,...

RJHS football teams promising in jamboreeBy Mark Burke sports@couriernews.com Four area teams took the field Tuesday night as Russellville Junior High School's East and West squads hosted a jamboree at Cyclone Stadium. The jamboree featured the Clarksville Panthers and Dover Pirates, along with the Russellville teams, in scrimmage play. The Whirlwind teams played two quarters each against both the Pirates and Panthers as they alternated play. Russellville East matched up with Clarksv...

A World Series return: Russellville wins bid to host Cal Ripken 10-year-olds next yearBy Henry C. Apple sportseditor@couriernews.com Russellville made such an impression during the 2002 16-year-old Babe Ruth World Series that the organization's officials couldn't wait to return. With that in mind, Babe Ruth president and CEO Ron Tellefsen was back in town Tuesday afternoon to officially announce that Russellville had been chosen as the host for the 2005 Cal Ripken 10-year-old World Series. The announcement was made during a pre...

Russellville All-Stars prevail for state tournament titleBy Henry C. Apple sportseditor@couriernews.com Justin Hayes had been in this situation before, and he wanted a different result the second time around. So with the bases loaded with Union County players Sunday afternoon, Hayes caught Kyle Jones looking on a third strike to end the game, allowing Russellville to escape with an 11-10 victory in eight innings and capture the South Arkansas Babe Ruth 16-year-old state tournament title at Hickey Pa...

Late decision lifts Cogswell to winBy Henry C. Apple sportseditor@couriernews.com It's one call that will leave baseball coaches scratching their heads and double-guessing themselves if it goes wrong. Cogswell Motors coach Dick Wright had that decision to make Saturday afternoon - whether or not to send the go-ahead runner home from third on a grounder in the infield with less than two outs. His decision to send Chris Rogers to the plate in the sixth inning was the right call, ...

Local all-stars advance in Babe Ruth tourneyBy Henry C. Apple sportseditor@couriernews.com Some stingy pitching has moved Russellville into the championship game of the South Arkansas 16-year-old state tournament. Three hurlers have combined to throw 14 shutout innings as Russellville moved into the title game, which is set for 2:30 p.m. today at Hickey Park. Russellville claimed a 6-0 victory in Saturday's game against Clark County after posting a 5-0 win over Union County in Friday's ...

Fast start lifts Superior FoodsBy Todd Brooks sports@couriernews.com Superior Foods used a big inning to jump out ahead of the visiting Cabot Lookouts and then held on to claim a 11-4 victory in its last regular season game of the season at Arkansas Tech Field. Russellville's Class AA American Legion team exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second inning, which was enough to overcome Cabot's comeback attempt and secure the victory. "We're not hitting the ball real ...

Host team must walk from 11-1 defeatBy Todd Brooks sports@couriernews.com The good news for the Russellville 13-year-olds at the Babe Ruth District 5 Tournament being held at Hickey Park was three of their pitchers combined for a one-hitter. The bad news was they also combined for 18 walks as Jacksonville took an 11-1 victory in five innings in a first-round game Saturday afternoon. Russellville trailed just 2-0 through the first two winnings, but Jacksonville scored nine runs o...